If
anyone believed that Nigeria’s former military despot and current
president, General Muhammadu Buhari who was elected through what many
still consider a controversial election, was a changed man with the
credential to drive change in Nigeria, recent happenings in the country
prove without a shadow of doubt that just like the proverbial saying,
that a leopard cannot change its spots, Mr. Buhari has confirmed the
fears expressed by his critics as being of the same mould as he was
during his military dictatorship in Nigeria; an era that saw many
Nigerians face the most draconian hardship and human rights violations
by the government in the history of the country.
Although currently, the ramifications of
his various anti-democratic actions and inactions have left many within
the country seemingly benumbed, given the brazen audacity of his
atrocious exploits within a democracy, the actions nevertheless pose
grave danger to democracy within the African continent, which by an
unintended import is the greatest risk of Mr. Buhari’s anti-democratic
governmental actions.
The reasons adduced in this piece are
among the lot of embarrassing complexities to bring to the fore the
grave danger Africa faces, if Mr. Muhammadu Buhari continues to enjoy
the support of Western democracies in spite of his dictatorial
leadership.
1. Compromised Institutions and The Disdain For The Law
In what is akin to the era of the
self-styled dictator of Uganda, Field Marshall Idi Amin Dada, Mr.
Muhammadu Buhari, has completely neutralised the independence of state
institutions and usurped their powers as his for personal gains.
From Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which at one time was
headed by one who is reportedly a family relative of his, Amina Zakari,
and continues to exert undue influence within the commission as a
national commissioner in the organisation, to the State Security
Services, SSS, headed by another relative of his and stalwart of the
ruling All Progressives Congress, which now serves as the secret police
of the government by which all manner of unimaginable atrocities are
meted at opposition voices and perceived enemies of the government
including innocent judges who refuse to subvert the course of justice as
demanded by the government; state institutions have become, more or
less, appendages of the office of the president whose orders have
assumed the place of law, a practice that is a far-cry from the gains
achieved by previous presidents of the country, especially the immediate
past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Today’s Nigeria is reminiscent of the
dark days of military dictatorship under Buhari. Judges are being
framed, tortured and their houses broken into by Nigeria’s secret
police, the DSS. Enemies of the State – that is, personal enemies of the
President – are being framed and perpetually detained in spite of court
orders ordering their release from detention. The case of Sambo Dasuki,
the National Security Adviser under former President Goodluck Jonathan,
is a major reference point. In spite of several court orders ordering
his bail, Mr. Buhari has refused to bulge and continues to hold him as
his personal detainee on what many believe are trumped-up charges.
Buhari’s disdain for the rule of law is
also well established in his interest and handling of the case against
Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra cause. Mr. Buhari is said
to be so miffed at the idea that society and not just the law considers
the right to bail for Kanu for advocating for self determination, this
is in spite of the fact that Kanu is yet to be convicted for any known
crime in Nigeria. On a live television broadcast, Mr. Buhari questioned
the right to bail for Kanu, an action that undermines Kanu rights, which
serves as a pointer to Mr. Buhari’s extrajudicial disposition to
governance and is believed to be the reason behind Mr. Kanu’s continued
incarceration and stalling trial just like that of Mr. Sambo Dasuki. The
situation is so bad that the presumption of innocence of accused
persons in Nigeria’s legal jurisprudence has been upturned by the Buhari
regime which presumes guilt on the accused and thereafter embarks on a
criminal prosecution which places the burden on the accused to prove his
innocence; a complete aberration and marked deviation from norms of
jurisprudence and the rule of law in Nigeria.
2. Corruption and The Deceptive Fight Against It
Mr. Buhari’s ride to power, in spite of
the controversies surrounding his election was largely efficacious on
account of his promise and the expectation of both Nigerians, including
the global community, that he would tackle corruption. Almost two years
after, there appears little or nothing to show of a determined
institutions-based and scientific approach to tackling corruption.
What Nigerians have witnessed is a
systematic clampdown on opposition voices, stalwarts of the former
ruling Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, including the former
president, his wife and former first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and
their associates on completely false and misleading allegations. There
are even concerns in some quarters that the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, headed by a core Northerner just like Buhari
himself, as do other major institutions, is being used as a hatchet
organisation to de-market the South and compromise its economy in favour
of the North. These concerns are strengthened by the attack on
businesses owned by Nigerians of the South, while Northern interests
continue to thrive.
Many also believe that the interest
expressed by Mr. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, suggesting to the
federal government that the country’s assets like its Liquefied Natural
Gas (LNG) facility should be put up for sale, is part of a grand plot by
the North to take control of the economic base of the country in
addition to its current hold of political power.
The greatest prejudice to the mouthed
fight against corruption by the Buhari regime is its population by
endemically corrupt individuals, many of whom either have cases in court
on corruption or have been indicted for it. Chief among the lot is the
former governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi whose disastrous
legacies as governor of one of Nigeria’s richest States has pitched him
against the people he once governed and continues to be the reason many
consider him as Buhari’s albatross. Amaechi, who sits as Nigeria’s
minister for transportation in the Buhari government and is believed to
be one of Buhari’s biggest sponsors [funders]to the presidency, has been
indicted for corruption by the Rivers State Government.
The presence of Mr. Amaechi in Buhari’s
cabinet makes mockery of his fight against corruption and is
considerably a witch-hunt of his perceived enemies and political
opponents. Amaechi has been named by judges, including a Supreme Court
justice as attempting to induce them to subvert the course of justice.
Although be denied the allegation, very little is left of credibility in
him to support such denial.
3. Islamist Fundamentalist Approach to Governance
If Nigerians would remember anything of
value from the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,
it would be that he led a government that had high regard for the rule
of law, which also strengthened the practice of democracy in Nigeria.
Just two years after Jonathan’s exit,
there is a marked deviation from globally accepted democratic norms in
Nigeria. Buhari’s regime displays total disregard for democracy and,
beyond being high handed, promotes a fundamentalist disposition to
governance.
From the records, there’s virtually no
conceivable way that the regime hasn’t assaulted democracy. The idea
that elections are the expression of the will and mandate of the vast
majority of the people, something that used to be taken for granted in
Nigeria, has become wishful thinking.
The Buhari regime goes all out to
undermine the credibility of elections and even uses the military to
molest citizens in a bid to suppress the will of the people and scuttle
their mandates. Not even upright judges have been spared. Only recently,
homes of judges were burgled by the secret police of the president and
judges, including eminent justices of the Supreme Court were abducted
and framed up for not undermining election-related and high profile
cases before them, as indirectly directed by the government.
Rivers State, an important oil bearing
state with vast wealth has also come under intense fire, as in credit to
Buhari’s anti-democratic tendencies and compromises of state
Institutions, it remains the only state, to this day, nearly 2 years
into the administration that is without representation at the Nigerian
Senate and largely at the House of Representatives just because Buhari
is bent on having his way by planting both a governor and legislators
from his party, the All Progressives Congress, against the wishes of
Rivers people.
Some may argue that Buhari cannot be
directly held to account for the various atrocious incidents that
continue to cast him in bad light. As laudable as such a thinking might
be, it falls short of credibility and substance. Mr. Buhari cannot but
take responsibility for the actions of his appointees and acolytes.
Besides, why does the public angst against the prevailing
win-at-all-cost approach to politics fall on deaf ears? Can Mr. Buhari
also claim ignorance of what is being done to Rivers State? Can he say
he is unaware of the recurrent redeployment of security chiefs from the
state after very short stays, a practice that, in itself, compromises
the security of the state?
Has any word been uttered about the
shambolic election that held in Edo in which voters were not only
glaringly disenfranchised but of which the results weren’t reflective of
the votes cast in spite of its criticism by the African Union? Do these
actions have any place in a democracy? Why is the international
community quiet about them? Is there a global conspiracy to compromise
Nigeria’s democracy?
4. Religious Conquest
It is widely believed that at the heart
of the agenda of the Buhari administration is a sinister plot to conquer
southern Nigeria as an extension of the Utman Dan Fodio caliphate of
Northern Nigeria. While indeed, there is no real proof of this plot, the
pro-Islamic character of the government along with the brazen
divisiveness that the president personally promotes against the Southern
Nigerians, it is difficult to completely discountenance such plots.
The plot is further complicated by the
unrestrained inroads of Fulani herdsmen into the south, freely killing
and maiming innocent Nigeria’s whilst claiming a right to graze
farmlands and crops of communities across the South. In response to the
infringement of the rights of people by Fulani herdsmen, rather than
address the crimes perpetrated by them, the government is moving to
grant them grazing rights of occupancy of the farmlands and Indigenous
communities in the South; thus likely preparing the grounds for full
occupancy of such areas. Where in the world does that happen?
Meanwhile churches in the North continue
to be attacked and Christian underaged girls are ceaselessly being
abducted by Islamic fundamentalists for brides against their wishes and
rights. Some have even alleged that the famous Chibok abduction of
hundreds of Christian girls from their predominantly Christian community
can at best be viewed from the prism of religious conquest. Yet, the
government continues to keep mute about these things. Even lip service
would have sufficed as a measurable means of cover-up.
5. Subjugation of Women
Mr. Buhari’s recent visit to Angela
Merkel of Germany and his comment while standing by one of the most
influential women in the world, that his wife, who by effect represents
the Nigerian woman, has no place in politics but in the bedroom and
kitchen, is by far the most damning effort by any African President in
recent history to undermine women’s rights and further subjugate them
under the throes of shackling and limiting religious and social burdens.
Besides, the fact that the comment was
an insult on women around the world, including his host, a female world
leader, Buhari used the opportunity of the world stage to entrench the
subjugation of the African woman at a time the global community is
pushing for the equality of rights between women and men. If that
comment was not a danger to African women, then nothing can endanger
their rights to equality with men in society.
6. Bad Model for African Democracy
It is an open secret that President
Obama’s reluctance to visit Nigeria in the entire duration of his term
was because such a visit would be viewed as an endorsement of a bad
model for African democracy. Whether that is the case or not, given the
gains achieved by former President Goodluck Jonathan in strengthening
the country’s democracy, what is currently happening in the country is
enough to cause global shivers among world leaders.
Nigeria has slipped into dictatorship.
Elections are now selections by the President or his acolytes save for
some States like Rivers, Bayelsa and the South Eastern States among
others where the populace have defied the antidemocratic actions of the
Federal Government but not without monumental losses including the loss
of lives.
Who would have thought that at this time
of civilization and the fancy and appreciation of democracy, Nigerians
would be killed or die to cast their votes and ensure that they count.
It’s an unfortunate scenario. If allowed to thrive without check by the
global community, it would serve as inspiration to African leaders to
toe the path of dictatorship.
7. The Strategic Influence of Nigeria in Africa and The World
A thriving Nigerian dictatorship is a
threat to world peace and democracy in Africa. The compromised National
Institutions and clearly biased government being led by President Buhari
amidst the dubious silence by Western democracies over the breaches of
human rights and democratic norms can serve as impetus to other African
leaders to toe the path of dictatorship.
It is for this reason and more that
world leaders, especially American and British leaders who played key
roles in the emergence of Mr. Muhammadu Buhari must rise to condemn his
draconian leadership. Human rights are universal and inalienable. The
infringement of the rights of people in Nigeria is becoming a norm.
The ramification is dangerous for the
African continent given the strategic influence and important to Nigeria
in the continent. A bad model must not be allowed to thrive. The ball
is in the court of those who hold democratic ideals as cherished ideals
and a part of global best practices for all nations without exception.
Oraye St. Franklyn, a member of Amnesty International, writes from Okrika, Niger Delta, Nigeria. He tweets from @realoraye.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
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